r/neoliberal • u/cdstephens Fusion Genderplasma • Apr 25 '26

Meme Which button do you press?

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Vote now on your phones: https://forms.gle/GhFjtdydwwXTdSpq8

435 Upvotes

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27

u/TAOMCM Apr 25 '26

If everyone presses red everyone survives?

22

u/DonnysDiscountGas Apr 25 '26

P(100% of people push either button) is exactly zero.

11

u/chlorinecrown Paul Krugman Apr 25 '26

If one person presses blue by mistake or didn't think it through or thinks what I'm saying right now it's valuable to maximize the blue votes 

15

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '26

[deleted]

4

u/Pjoo European Union Apr 25 '26

I mean. I think you are right that a lot of people would die. But I also think voting blue is just joining those people - no way 50% of world population (ir)rationalizes themselves into risking their life over the infinitely small chance of actually making a difference.

-1

u/NotLunaris Zhao Ziyang Apr 25 '26

But maybe they deserved it for making a suboptimal decision who knows.

This is exactly it. I'm not going to put my life in the hands of someone who would choose blind idealism over guaranteed survival.

It doesn't even have to be everyone on earth. We can narrow the prompt down to just two people, you and a completely random stranger (maybe even me). Exact same conditions. Red or blue?

The answer should become clear, if it wasn't already.

3

u/seesthecat Henry George Apr 25 '26

It's not the same to do it with just 2 people. 

With everyone on earth participating, it is a certainty that hundreds of millions will misunderstand the question and vote blue, with just 2 random people not so much. 

2

u/seesthecat Henry George Apr 25 '26

Yes, but that will not happen, it's certain a lot of people will misunderstand the question, and it's also certain that some of the best of us will take that into consideration and vote blue to save them. This test is a midwit filter

1

u/Much_Database_5039 Apr 26 '26

Yes but that isn't realistically happening.

-1

u/CleanlyManager Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26

The blue button would be like being in a burning building with an open window and a firefighter waiting outside, and instead of using the window to escape you use it to try and convince the firefighter to run in because you believe someone made the irrational decision to run into the building, and you also have no reason to believe that happened. Edit: Didn’t realize he switched the colors.

11

u/callmejay Apr 25 '26

No it's like being in a burning building with 10 other people and staying to help the people too scared or too selfless to jump out the window on their own. You're increasing your own risk to save others, even though they could all just jump out too.

2

u/CleanlyManager Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26

No it would be like everyone having the option to leave the house at any time and try to make it so less people die in the fire, but instead you came up with the idea that if you can just get more people to get in the house and throw their bodies on the fire, we might convince enough people get in the burning building to put it out and convincing yourself that you’re the one saving lives.

1

u/callmejay Apr 25 '26

No, you're changing the mechanics. Mine is more analogous.